Medinfo 92

The field of medical informatics has steadily matured and MEDINFO 92 shows an upturn in the uses of informatics in the health sector. This volume contains significant contributions on diverse issues, a popular field being knowledge-based work: concepts, methodologies, software and other tools, systems and evaluations of systems and experiences. Several papers describe functional integration between differing systems, institutions and even geographic areas; they confirm a trend towards having knowledge-based systems contained in, or integrated with, overall management information systems serving the physician as well as the rest of the health support team. As well as contributions on those topics that have been covered in MEDINFO congresses since their inception in 1974, such as bibliographic systems, nursing informatics and hospital information systems, other issues addressed include data standards such as semantics, syntax and communication standards; the quality, accuracy and ethical values of medical data; and developments in networking.

Chapter 1 offers an overview of the basic computer technology. Each succeeding chapter, describes the problems in medicine, followed by a review in chronological sequence of why and how computers were applied to try to meet these problems. Only the technical aspects of computer hardware, software, and communications are discussed as they are necessary to explain how the technology was applied. This approach generally led to defining the objectives for applications of medical informatics. At the end of each chapter, the author summarizes his personal views and interpretations of the chapter contents. Although the concurrent evolution of medical informatics in Canada, Europe, and Japan certainly influenced workers in the United States, the scope of this historical review is limited to the development of medical informatics within the United States. Furthermore, this review is limited to electronic digital computers; it excludes mechanical, analog, and hybrid computers.

Implementing ASTM 1238 on a national scale in France: The H. PR. I.M. experience 1990-1992 -- Multi Media and Broadband Communication Services: A new paradigm for Medical Imaging -- RECENT PROGRESS in STANDARDIZATION of MEDICAL IMAGING in AMERICA -- Standard Interchange for Computerized Electrocardiography -- Data Interchange for Clinical Neurophysiology -- Health Care Security and Privacy, Quality and Safety -- Standardization in Health Care Informatics Opportunities for International Cooperation -- Useful Addresses -- AUTHOR INDEX

This is a meticulously detailed chronological record of significant events in the history of medical informatics and their impact on direct patient care and clinical research, offering a representative sampling of published contributions to the field. The History of Medical Informatics in the United States has been restructured within this new edition, reflecting the transformation medical informatics has undergone in the years since 1990. The systems that were once exclusively institutionally driven – hospital, multihospital, and outpatient information systems – are today joined by systems that are driven by clinical subspecialties, nursing, pathology, clinical laboratory, pharmacy, imaging, and more. At the core is the person – not the clinician, not the institution – whose health all these systems are designed to serve. A group of world-renowned authors have joined forces with Dr Marion Ball to bring Dr Collen’s incredible work to press. These recognized leaders in medical informatics, many of whom are recipients of the Morris F. Collen Award in Medical Informatics and were friends of or mentored by Dr Collen, carefully reviewed, editing and updating his draft chapters. This has resulted in the most thorough history of the subject imaginable, and also provides readers with a roadmap for the subject well into later in the century.

This volume seeks to reflect the state of the art on medical informatics. It presents ideas that will guide the process of medical informatics. Topics in the book include: information systems in health care and medicine; telemedicine and telematics; security; biomedical processing, data mining and knowledge discovery; training and education; Internet/intranet; resources management; intelligent medical systems; health guidelines and protocols; electronic patient encounter, card technology, electronic data interchange; terminology; nursing informatics.